Hurricane Central

New Hurricane Ike Aftermath Aerial Photos Show Storm's Raw Destructive Power

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An aerial photo shows damage by Hurricane Ike on Sept. 13, 2008 near the Bolivar Peninsula in Galveston County, Texas. (Larry Skiles)

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An aerial photo shows damage by Hurricane Ike on Sept. 13, 2008 near the Bolivar Peninsula in Galveston County, Texas. (Larry Skiles)

Seven years after Hurricane Ike slammed the Texas Gulf Coast, newly released aerial photos show the landfall zone in a state of raw devastation never before seen by the general public.

Private pilot Larry Skiles released the photos last week as the seventh anniversary of Ike's landfall approached. At the time, he owned a house on the Bolivar Peninsula, a spit of land northeast of Galveston that wound up under the eyewall of Hurricane Ike and suffered the worst destruction the sprawling storm had to offer.

Despite the FAA having closed the airspace over the peninsula, Skiles decided to fly over the coastline anyway to see what might have happened to his home and property.

Skiles told Houston television station KHOU, "I couldn't figure out where my house used to be, because it was gone." He said the flight was "the most unforgettable flight of my flying career."

Adjusting for inflation, Ike remains the fourth-costliest tropical cyclone ever to make landfall in the U.S., behind Katrina, Sandy and Andrew. It caused $29.5 billion in damage and took at least 113 lives in states from Texas to Pennsylvania.

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Hurricane Ike Damage (PHOTOS)